West of Darwin - Day 6 - 12 09.521S 118 03.566E
Aurora_b
Mike and Liz Downing
Wed 11 Sep 2013 07:24
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Had a little more wind overnight (10-12kts occasionally a bit
higher) and there is now a definite west going ocean current of between 0.5
and 1.0kt. We also took the leeward pole down and sheeted the genoa normally to
be able to have the windward sail poled out with the wind right on
it's limit of 120 degrees to gain the maximum apparent wind. (If the
leeward genoa is poled out it doesn't draw much after the wind has passed 140
degrees.) The combination of these kept the speed reasonable and the noon
to noon run was 136.4 miles. So getting a bit better. Again another
lovely day with a great sunrise - not a cloud in the sky as the sun came up over
the horizon.
In another 22 miles or so, we'll be back on a chart. We had a
gap of 6 degrees of longitude (360 miles on the equator) between paper
charts. Also our main electronic charts came to an end (in terms of
providing detail) at the same spot. It wasn't worth the cost of a new
electronic chart to cover Cocos Keeling, so we have paper and likewise it
wasn't worth getting a chart to cover 6 degrees of open ocean. So it feels like
we've been running blind - I do like to see the ocean floor contours and depths
for sea mounts and the like. The last spot on the paper chart we've left
behind was on the border of the Timor Sea and the Indian Ocean. The depth
was only about 600ft. Where we enter the new chart the depth is 18,000ft -
approximately 3.5 miles - so deep ocean and with the weather we have, it's that
lovely deep blue colour.
Had 5 fishing boats (we assume that's what they were)
within a 15 mile radius of us last night. The radar is used every hour or so
once the moon goes over the horizon (around 23.30 last night) to check for other
boats. Up until now it's only ever picked up the big ships that are already on
AIS so already visible on the chartplotter. So it was a surprise to see other
shipping. One passed within 2 miles of us - quite close in such a big
sea! As we go west the moon will stay longer each night and it should be
close to full moon on arrival. Saw a Frigatebird for the first time for a long
time yesterday. They're 2 a penny in the Caribbean and Pacific, but we didn't
see any during our time in Australia.
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